The invention relates to Raney nickel catalysts with an improved service life, a process for their preparation and their use in the hydrogenation of organic compounds, in particular in the hydrogenation of aromatic nitro compounds.
The preparation and use of RaNi as a hydrogenation catalyst for aromatic nitro compounds, such as e.g. nitrobenzene, nitrotoluenes, dinitrotoluenes, chlorinated nitro-aromatics and others, is known and has been described frequently (e.g. R. Schrxc3x6ter, Angew. Chem. 1941, 54, 229, EP-A 0223035). An alloy of aluminium with nickel and, optionally, one or more further sub-group metals is usually used as the starting material for the preparation of RaNi catalysts. The alloy is obtained, for example, by fusion or reactive grinding of the starting metals. RaNi catalysts can be modified in respect of activity, selectivity and stability, in particular at elevated temperatures, by alloying of the starting alloy with other metals. This doping of the catalyst by addition of the most diverse metals to the Al-Ni melt of the catalyst precursors is known (DE-A 40 01 484, DE-A 35 37 247). The catalyst precursors are comminuted by atomizing the Al-Ni metal melt or mechanically and the catalyst is liberated by partial or complete leaching of the aluminium out of the alloy with a base (DE-A 27 13 374). The catalytic action of the catalysts originating from the alloys depends, inter alia, on the qualitative and quantitative composition of the alloy, the structure and the matrix of the alloy and therefore on the resulting structure and the resulting matrix of the catalyst.
Hydrogenation of aromatic nitro compounds is a reaction which is often carried out on a large industrial scale. RaNi catalysts are frequently employed for this. The catalyst service lives, structures and matrix of the starting alloys and the rate of solidification are scarcely correlated. In the ternary systems of Al-Ni-additional metal in particular, a large number of phases can be present in the starting alloy, which show no or only low activities and high catalyst consumptions in the resulting catalyst. The activities and service lives of different catalyst batches are therefore difficult to reproduce.
There was therefore the object of providing RaNi catalysts which show an improved service life and therefore a lower catalyst consumption in the hydrogenation of aromatic nitro compounds.
It has now been found that the service life of RaNi catalysts in the hydrogenation of the nitro groups of aromatic nitro compounds is surprisingly increased compared with the catalysts conventionally employed if, according to the invention, amorphous, partly amorphous or finely crystalline alloys prepared by rapid solidification are employed as precursors for the catalysts.
The invention thus provides RaNi catalysts, which are obtained by a process in which the melt of an alloy comprising 50 to 95 wt. % aluminium, 10 to 50 wt. % nickel and, optionally, 0 to 20 wt. % iron, 0 to 15 wt. % cerium, cerium mixed metal, vanadium, niobium, tantalum, chromium, molybdenum or manganese and, optionally, further glass-forming elements is allowed to solidify rapidly with a cooling rate of  greater than 104 K/s and the rapidly solidified alloy is then subjected to a treatment with organic or inorganic bases.
By quenching a metallic melt at the stated cooling rate, metastable phases and structures outside the state of equilibrium can be obtained and frozen in. A refinement of the matrix, i.e. smaller crystallite sizes, in the range of 1-10 xcexcm and below, preferably  less than 2 xcexcm, are established in this way in the catalysts according to the invention. Rapid solidification here is understood as meaning quenching with a cooling rate of xe2x89xa7104 K/s, while the cooling rates with normal atomization which is not according to the invention are between 102 and 103 K/s. If the rapid solidification of the alloy melt takes place at  greater than 104 K/s, amorphous alloys or alloys with crystalline and amorphous regions, called partly amorphous in the following, or completely finely crystalline states are obtained. The term amorphous in connection with metallic phases, also classified as metallic glasses or supercooled solid melts, describes the absence of crystallinity. Surprisingly, it has been found that the RaNi catalysts prepared according to the invention have substantially more stable service lives than those from alloys which have not solidified rapidly.
The high cooling rates of 104 to 107 K/s required for the rapid solidification can be achieved e.g. by forcing an alloy melt out on to a rotating cooling wheel (R. W. Cahn, P. Haasen, E. J. Kramer, Materials Science and Technology vol. 8, 1996, p. 237). Similarly high cooling rates can be obtained by water-in-water atomization of a molten alloy if a correspondingly small particle size is established in the atomization. The particle sizes to be established depend greatly here on the atomization apparatus used, and can easily be determined in a series experiment with which the expert is familiar. Rapidly solidified alloys can also be prepared by the melt extraction process.
The formation of amorphous structures can additionally be influenced in a positive manner by further alloying metals. Rare earth metals, preferably cerium or cerium mixed metal, and/or selected sub-group elements, preferably vanadium, niobium, tantalum, chromium, molybdenum or manganese, are employed as such alloying metals in the catalyst according to the invention. Optionally the alloy can also comprise further glass-forming main group elements, preferably boron, silicon, carbon and/or phosphorus.
The improvement in the catalytic properties effected by rapid solidification is destroyed by annealing the alloys, since the equilibrium states are established again during annealing. The content of amorphous phase in an alloy can be detected by means of X-ray diffractometry and by metallographic examination of ground surfaces of the alloy under a light microscope. (A. Molnar et al., Adv. Catal., 1989, 36, 329).
The catalysts according to the invention based on amorphous/partly amorphous or finely crystalline alloys prepared by rapid solidification are distinguished by increased service lives and low formation of by-products, and by a better reproducibility of the catalyst properties compared with conventional catalysts. The catalyst requirement for use on a large industrial scale is reduced as a result. In the industrial preparation of 2,4-/2,6-tolylenediamine by hydrogenation of dinitrotoluenes or other aromatic nitro compounds for example, this manifests itself advantageously in particular in the hydrogenation in the absence of foreign solvents.
The invention also provides a process for the preparation of RaNi catalysts, in which the melt of an alloy of 50 to 95 wt. % aluminium, 10 to 50 wt. % nickel, 0 to 20 wt. % iron, 0 to 15 wt. % cerium, cerium mixed metal, vanadium, niobium, tantalum, chromium, molybdenum or manganese and, optionally, further glass-forming elements is allowed to cool at a cooling rate of  greater than 104 K/s and the rapidly solidified alloy is then subjected to a treatment with organic or inorganic bases.
Alloys comprising 50 to 95 wt. % aluminium, 10 to 50 wt. % nickel, 0 to 20 wt. % iron and 0 to 15 wt. % cerium, cerium mixed metal, vanadium, niobium, tantalum, chromium, molybdenum or manganese are employed for the preparation according to the invention of the catalysts from rapidly solidified alloys or for the preparation of amorphous, partly amorphous or finely crystalline alloys as catalyst precursors. Alloys of 60 to 90 wt. % aluminium, 15 to 40 wt. % nickel, 0 to 10 wt. % iron and/or other transition metals and 0 to 10 wt. % cerium, cerium mixed metal, vanadium, niobium, tantalum, chromium, molybdenum or manganese are preferred. Alloys of 70 to 85 wt. % aluminium, 15 to 30 wt. % nickel, 0 to 6 wt. % iron and/or other transition metals and 0 to 10 wt. % cerium, cerium mixed metal, vanadium, niobium, chromium, molybdenum or manganese are particularly preferred.
These alloys can be prepared e.g. by inductive smelting of the metals in corresponding weight ratios.
The high cooling rates required for the rapid solidification of the alloys described above can be achieved e.g. by forcing the alloy melt out on to a rotating cooling wheel or into the gap between two cooling wheels rotating in opposite directions, by the melt extraction process or by a water-in-water atomization, with a selected particle size and selected cooling parameters. The atomization of such alloys is known e.g. from DE-A 40 01 484, it being necessary to adhere to the desired cooling rates. The thickness of the bands obtained on the cooling wheels is between 10 and 100 xcexcm, preferably between 10 and 50 xcexcm. The cooling wheel is preferably made of Cu, Ag or Cu- and Ag-based alloys, but can also be produced from any other desired metallic materials. The cooling roll can be cooled with ambient air, cooled and condensed gases, or by water or any other desired cooling medium.
The liberation of the RaNi catalysts is carried out by alkali treatment of the rapidly solidified alloy, which has optionally been comminuted, with aqueous solutions of organic or inorganic bases, for example with sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide, sodium carbonate or potassium carbonate, preferably with sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide, preferably at temperatures of 50 to 100xc2x0 C. The amount of base depends on the amount of aluminium present in the alloy. The base can be employed in the stoichiometric amount or more than or less than the stoichiometric amount with respect to the aluminium. A ratio of the amounts of aluminium to base of 1:1 to 1:10 is preferred, and a ratio of 1:1.1 to 1:5 is particularly preferred. The catalyst can be isolated by partial or complete decanting or filtration of the aqueous solution and washed by repeated decanting or filtration of added wash solution. Water (deionized, distilled or drinking water) or a solution of sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide in water is used as the wash solution.
The catalysts which can be prepared by leaching out from the rapidly solidified amorphous, partly amorphous or finely crystalline alloys described comprise residual amount of 0 to 15 wt. % aluminium, 50 to 100 wt. % nickel, 0 to 50 wt. % iron and/or other transition metals, and 0 to 30 wt. % cerium, cerium mixed metal, vanadium, niobium, tantalum, chromium, molybdenum or manganese. Catalysts of 0 to 10 wt. % aluminium, 60 to 100 wt. % nickel, 0 to 30 wt. % iron and/or other transition metals and 0 to 30 wt. % cerium, cerium mixed metal, vanadium, niobium, tantalum, chromium, molybdenum or manganese are preferred. Alloys of 0 to 10 wt. % aluminium, 75 to 100 wt. % nickel, 0 to 20 wt. % iron and/or other transition metals and 0 to 25 wt. % cerium, cerium mixed metal, vanadium, niobium, tantalum, chromium, molybdenum or manganese are particularly preferred.
The invention also provides the use of the catalysts described for the hydrogenation of organic compounds, preferably for the hydrogenation of aromatic nitro compounds.
Suitable starting materials for this are any desired aromatic nitro compounds, e.g. nitrobenzene, the isomers and their mixtures of nitrotoluene, chlorinated nitro-aromatics, dinitronaphthalene and, in particular, the isomers and isomer mixtures of dinitrotoluene. The nitro compounds are preferably hydrogenated in bulk, that is to say without the use of a foreign solvent, at temperatures of 120 to 250xc2x0 C., preferably 140 to 200xc2x0 C., under a pressure of 5 to 50 bar, preferably 10 to 30 bar, in the presence of the catalyst, which is suspended in the reaction medium. The reaction medium is composed of the product, the water correspondingly formed and the gas phase.
Optionally, a solvent, such as e.g. an alcohol, preferably methanol or 2-propanol, can also be added to the reaction medium for this reaction. The hydrogenation of other nitro compounds is often carried out in a solvent, such as e.g. in an alcohol, preferably in methanol or 2-propanol, under a pressure of 5 to 200 bar.
The hydrogenation can be carried out continuously or discontinuously in the conventional reactors. The amount of nitro compound fed into the reactor here corresponds to the amount of reaction product simultaneously sluiced out of the reactor.
The increase in the service life of the catalysts according to the invention compared with catalysts from conventionally prepared precursor alloys is surprising and unforeseeable. The increase observed in the service life of the catalysts according to the invention can be demonstrated clearly by examples of the reduction of technical grade 2,4/2,6-dinitrotoluene mixtures in the absence of a foreign solvent.